Here is the next iteration of the Sylvan (Treetop) town. I’ve decided not to bother with individual buildings at this stage, so the first picture shows what is produced and how, but not where. Because everything is interconnected, it requires a holistic view of the town/faction. For this reason, I have dedicated this thread to the Sylvan faction as a whole, and included all Sylvan-related images further below. Non-Sylvan-specific information (skills, spells, heroes, resources, terrain, etc) still needs to be looked up in their respective threads.

As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve really struggled with some of those images.

My goal with the Sylvan faction was to create a unit lineup that:
• Is evenly balanced between might and magic
• Favours speed and range over size and strength
• Uses deception and trickery
• Makes extensive use of forest animals
• Is in the spirit of the faction themes

In the early stages of the game, the backbone of the Sylvan army is Elf units – Archer (shooter) and Druid (caster). Archer is the stronger of the two and the primary attacker, with Druid playing the supporting role with its healing spell, to compensate for Archer being poor in defence.

The hero symbol on the Archer unit card (a flier with a cape) indicates an ability that only becomes available in the presence of a hero, in this case an archer hero, as denoted by the bow symbol. This means that the Archer unit is able to use the Scatter Shot ability only when adjacent to an archer hero on the map.

The initial Sylvan army advances with level 1 lair, which offers Eagle, Vine or Wolf creature.

Eagle gives the Sylvan player access to a powerful level 2 unit – Mounted Archer. Its flying mobility and no-cost shooting attack make it very difficult to contain

Vine makes the Ranger upgrade available. It’s still a level 1 unit, but with a poison attack that enables it to take on level 2 neutrals

Wolf also gives a level 1 unit – Forest Wolf – which is dangerous when attacking in a pack. In addition, as a Hauler, it gives the player Medicine Cart – a solid level 2 unit with superior healing ability to the Druid

With the lair carrying the army to the next level, the level 1 dwelling, with its Elf, Shadow and Siren, offers more diverse benefits.

Elves don’t give the player anything new, but merely enable him to recruit Elf units faster due to more Elf creatures being available

Shadow gives the Forestwalk ability, which is intended for use at a Megalith map structure, giving every allied Sylvan unit Forestwalk

Siren upgrades the Druid to Master Druid, and also makes some powerful high-level units possible

Level 2 lair was again intended to advance the Sylvan army, with the level 2 dwelling offering other benefits.

Horse does the same with Unicorn Rider, which performs the function of the Druid in the level 2 Sylvan army

Pumpkin makes powerful level 3 units available, provided that the player has access to Haulers (still need to figure out what to do when he doesn’t)

Level 2 dwelling generally tries to strengthen the Sylvan faction in non-combat areas. The only exception is Starwalker, which makes the first genuine melee unit (Forestwalker) available to the player.

Level 3 lair continues the established pattern. Forest Elephant is a tough melee unit, Chameleon a sneaky one (don’t know how yet), and Fungi a dangerous sorcerer. Apart from Roc units, I haven’t yet worked out what the level 3 dwelling will offer. It will probably be along the lines of the level 2 dwelling.

Level 4 lair and dwelling unleash the full power of the Sylvan faction. All the creatures can be trained into units, some into more powerful ones provided that the town has met their prerequisites during its earlier development.

Sylvan is the traditional forest town. The core themes are: spirit of the woods, tree of life, circle of life, embracing life and death, rebirth. The signature mechanics are: range, magic, regeneration, whispering. Mind you, I still need to build some of these in.

I see that I cannot really finalise the unit lineup of a faction without finalising those of other factions as well. I'm busy with the Homestead unit lineup, and I've had to make some changes to the Sylvan one as a result. I'll post the updates once I'm done with all the core factions.